News: International

Friday's Iran Mini Report - January 4, 2019

In a statement issued on Thursday January 3rd the Steel workers of Ahvaz condemned the savage attacks on the protesters by security forces and imprisonment and torture of workers. They also condemned turning the atmosphere of the factory into a military garrison which will lead to permanent shut down of the factory.

• U.S. Warns Iran Against Ballistic Missile Launches

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran had announced plans to launch in the coming months three rockets, called Space Launch Vehicles (SLV), which he said incorporate ballistic missile technology.

"The United States will not stand by and watch the Iranian regime's destructive policies place international stability and security at risk," Pompeo said in a statement."We advise the regime to reconsider these provocative launches and cease all activities related to ballistic missiles in order to avoid deeper economic and diplomatic isolation."

Mohammad Yazdi, 87, a senior influential Mullah says that in forty years since the 1979 revolution, Iran has had 400 years' worth of progress.

Yazdi on Thursday said, “In these 40 years 400 years’ worth of service has been rendered to this country and we have had 400 years’ worth of growth and progress; technology, gadgets, various equipment, population and lifestyle, and now it is totally different from the past”.

But he also added that in these years, “it was attempted to preserve Islam’s and the revolution’s principles”.

Yazdi’s claims should be viewed in the context of Iran’s low ranking in world indicators for progress. Widespread corruption is one criterion in which Iran ranks low and even regime’s officials admit the seriousness of the problem. Transparency International has ranked Iran 130 among 180 countries in financial corruption.

On the economic front, Iran ranks low on domestic and foreign investment, with high inflation and unemployment.

Lack of economic opportunities combined with lack of social and political freedoms have forced at least seven million Iranians to emigrate from the country in the last four decades.

• Mike Pompeo to Newsmax TV: 'Continuously Evaluating' Iran Sanctions

The Trump administration is "continuously evaluating" the waivers on sanctions against Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Newsmax TV on Thursday.

"The sanctions and waivers are for six months," Pompeo told Newsmax TV host John Bachman in an exclusive interview at the State Department. "We are continuously evaluating whether they make sense, given our policy.

"We still want to make sure we've got a well-supplied crude oil market — but, at the same time, we want to ensure that we're complying with the requirements."

Pompeo said: The sanctions on Iran have this ultimate goal: creating an outcome where the Iranian people can have better lives than they have today under this tyrannical regime,".